Albany Diocese raises $450k towards Superstorm Sandy relief

ALBANY - When the surge brought by Superstorm Sandy struck 13 downstate counties in late October, it brought with it devastation, the cleanup from which is still ongoing. In the immediate aftermath of that deluge, federal, state, local and private organizations from near and far volunteered time, donated goods and funds to help those in need.

Now, thirteen months later, members of the five upstate Catholic Church dioceses have raised $1,364,822 through special collections, fundraisers, and individual contributions to be given to the three densely populated downstate dioceses hardest hit by the surge. Of that contribution, the Albany Diocese, which encompasses Troy, Watervliet, Cohoes and all of Rensselaer County, contributed $450,000.

"What we are doing today is to help our brothers and sisters in downstate NY not only to rebuild homes, but to rebuild lives," said Bishop Howard Hubbard of the Albany Diocese, at a press conference to give a symbolic check.

The charitable branches of the Catholic Church in the three downstate dioceses have already expended $5.5 million in direct aid to families. The new funds from upstate will be going to the same cause, 40 percent to the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, 40 percent to Rockville Center and 20 percent to the Archdiocese of New York, per the number of FEMA registrants. Those funds, to be dispersed by case workers, will go to varied uses from providing heating systems or temporary shelter to funding medication for chronic health conditions.

Advertisement

"We found immediately after, as that surge of water pulled away and we looked around, we saw devastation that we'd never seen before," Laura A. Cassell, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities in the diocese of Rockville Center. "We immediately began to experience an outpouring of love and that continues up to right here today."

While the funds given today were in response to a single severe weather event storm, Hubbard warned that state residents and elected officials should expect the prevalence of such events to increase.

"I hope this most recent tragedy will serve as a wake-up call to the reality of climate change," Hubbard said. "The science is very clear. It is now up to our elected officials and all of us to work creatively and aggressively to respond."